Comedy radio station launches

With podcast kings Richard Herring, Peacock & Gamble

Fubar Live, which launches today, is the UK’s first radio station broadcast only via a subscription-based app, priced £2.99 a month.

Promotional material for the station makes much of its ‘uncensored’ nature, as the output is ‘untouchable’ by broadcast regulators.

It promises ‘provocative, entertaining, no-holds-barred chat, comedy and content that could never be heard anywhere else on UK radio, alongside uncensored music that is never play-listed or rotated’.

Mark Dolan will host the weekday morning slot, while other stand-ups on the station include Vikki Stone, whose Friday night show is billed as revealing the ‘personal, intimate and downright filthy’; Jarred Christmas with a hip-hop themed show and Joey Page, who promises ‘Mighty Boosh-style surreal flights of fancy’

Ellie Taylor will present celebrity gossip with Simon Feilder, while Alex Lowe's creation Barry from Watford shares fashion tips. And at weekends former Chortle Student Comedy Award-winner – and Radio One presenter – Tom Deacon will host a football show with Neil ‘Razor’ Ruddock in which they will take ‘unedited and unscreened calls from passionate and opinionated fans’.

Herring will co-host his show with comic Lou Sanders, Peacock & Gamble will be interviewing guests from the world of comedy – similar to their acclaimed Edinburgh podcast distributed via Chortle – and Donnelly will be joined by fellow stand-up Chris Martin for a weekly show described as ‘a mix of laddish banter and top comedy guests’.

The company plans to launch a sister station, Fubar Funny, within the next few weeks, dedicated to ‘archive comedy content’. Costing an additional £1.99 a month, it places the emphasis on material ‘banned’ from traditional broadcasters.

The challenge will be whether listeners are prepared to pay for content, with the world’s radio stations and countless comedy podcasts available online for free.

Jamie Moore, Fubar's head of marketing, said: 'We’re a radio station that doesn’t stifle the creativity of our presenters, allowing them to take risks and do things they couldn’t on any other station. And we give listeners the chance to hear brilliant new content and engage with presenters through the app in a way they couldn’t anywhere else.'

Fubar Live, which aims to be 75 per cent talk to 25 per cent music and aimed at 18-35-year-olds, launches today on Apple’s iOS. An Android version is coming in two weeks’ time.